Issue Brief on “Breaking Through with Kabul with Cautious Optimism”

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been on a downward trajectory since 2015, particularly after the collapse of the Murree peace talks following the disclosure of Mullah Omar’s death by the Afghan intelligence. Since then, relations have been at their lowest, where both countries have been entangled in a vicious blame game,mainly revolving around failure of the peace talks; counter-terrorism differences over the Afghan Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)/Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) militants; and reignited border clashes.

While Pakistan has made several attempts to resume talks with Afghanistan including Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua’s visit to Kabul in August 2017, Kabul’s response has been less than forthcoming. Kabul has continued to blame Pakistan for all the ills inside Afghanistan, including allegedly allowing terrorist activities against Afghanistan from its soil.